The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) strongly condemns the attack carried out by armed Israeli settlers’ gangs on the village of Jit, north of Qalqilya in the West Bank. The attack resulted in the fatal shooting of a Palestinian and the injury of another, while homes and vehicles belonging to villagers were burnt out as the settlers were backed by the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) during their withdrawal. PCHR warns of the staggering increase in state-backed settler violence against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank.

This crime is part of a broader range of violence fueled by the ongoing incitement campaign by Israeli ministers. Such attacks are propelled by the institutionalized impunity for settler violence amid unabated support from Israel’s top political and military echelons. Setter violence is inseparable from Israel’s broader policy to establish full sovereignty over the West Bank and continuing its plan to ethnically cleanse the Palestinians.

According to field information obtained by PCHR staff, at approximately 19:30 PM on Thursday, 15 August 2024, several vehicles carrying around 150 settlers, mostly masked, dressed in black, and armed with pistols and automatic rifles, arrived in the Palestinian Jit village in Area (C) in the West Bank as they came from the Gilead settlement established south of the village. The settlers threw stones at residential homes and villagers, set several homes and vehicles ablaze, and randomly opened fire at Palestinian civilians. In response, loudspeakers from the village mosques called on the villagers to gather and defend their homes and vehicles, so some gathered, but settlers opened fire at Rashid Mahmoud Abdul Qader Al-Sadeh (23), killing him immediately after receiving a bullet in the chest. Moreover, Mahdi Mohammed Al-Sakhin (23) was injured with a bullet in his shoulder. During the attack, the settlers set fire to three homes, assaulted several vehicles, and set some of them ablaze.

Around an hour after the settlers raided the village, IOF arrived at the scene and began dispersing the Palestinian villagers, hindering them from extinguishing the fires engulfing their homes and vehicles. IOF then fired live bullets and tear gas canisters into the air and took no action to halt the settlers’ rampage. Instead, they facilitated and secured the settlers’ withdrawal from the village. When IOF invaded the village, they sealed off the village entrances, blocking the entry of civil defense vehicles and ambulances that were desperately trying to reach the scene to extinguish the fires and evacuate the injured.

Omar Al-Sedda stated to PCHR’s field researcher, “We were home, and at sunset, we suddenly heard screams and mosque loudspeakers calling, so we learned that the settlers had entered, just like that, without prior warning. I went to my son’s house in that neighborhood, took him and his small family, and brought them to my home, which is safer and away from settlers. Then the young men began to flock to the area to protect the people and homes from the settlers. Rashid Al-Sedda, was among the first to try to extinguish the fire and push the settlers away, but one of the settlers shot him, killing him immediately. The settlers set fire to everything they could and fired randomly until they left under the protection of IOF, who arrived later and wreaked havoc and destruction in the village.”

Initial information on the way the attack was conducted indicates that it was a coordinated attack by a large group of armed settlers, carried out in an area where no incidents had occurred that could be used as a justification for such an attack, as it is usually the case. 

This crime is a continuation of the escalating violence, including killings committed by settlers in the West Bank, which has witnessed an alarming increase in recent months, under official Israeli protection and support, with repeated announcements of arming settlers and forming armed militias with the backing of Israeli government ministers.

Our team has documented the killing of four Palestinian civilians by settlers’ fire since the beginning of this year, while nine others were killed in the last three months of the previous year also by settlers’ fire in the West Bank.

It is noteworthy that most of settler attacks occur within Area C, which constitutes 60% of the West Bank, and houses most of the settlements and outposts, and military sites, and is under full Israeli control according to the Oslo Accords. Our staff often face difficulties in accessing these areas to document violations and crimes due to IOF or settlers’ restrictions or attacks.

Between 7 October 2023 and 12 August 2024, OCHA recorded around 1,250 attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians, of which around 120 led to Palestinian fatalities and injuries, around 1,000 led to damage to Palestinian property, and around 130 led to both casualties and property damage.

Most of these attacks are perpetrated under the protection of IOF, who intervene to secure the settlers during their attacks and later during their withdrawal, while suppressing Palestinians who attempt to protect themselves.

While PCHR condemns settler violence, it warns that such attacks may become the norm as Israeli ministers and officials continue to encourage mass murder, with the ongoing 10-month genocidal campaign against the Gaza Strip without any serious deterrence or accountability.

PCHR calls on the international community and UN bodies to assume their legal and moral responsibilities, to take effective action to stop IOF and settlers’ crimes against Palestinians, and to take action to provide protection for them.